Moana 2 is one of the last major movies remaining on the 2024 release calendar. Expectations are high for the sequel, with all signs pointing to it becoming a hit. Just how big can Moana 2 get? AMC CEO Adam Aron believes Moana 2’s box office can surpass the record-setting haul of Inside Out 2.
“Some people in the know are telling me that Moana 2 could eclipse and outshine even the success of Inside Out 2,” Aron said on AMC’s Q3 earnings call via Deadline.
What does the Moana 2 box office need to be to pass Inside Out 2?
For Moana 2 to surpass Inside Out 2 at the box office, it must become the biggest hit of 2024. Inside Out 2 opened in June to $155 million domestically and $295 million globally. Initial reports for Moana 2 peg the Disney sequel to gross between $75 million and $82 million domestically over its opening weekend. Adding in its five-day Thanksgiving weekend numbers Moana 2 will easily do over $100 million.
Inside Out 2 parlayed its monstrous opening weekend to a dominant summer at the box office. To date, Inside Out 2 has a worldwide gross of $1.697 billion, making it the highest-grossing animated movie of all time and the biggest film of 2024. Additionally, Inside Out 2’s domestic gross of $652 million is the largest of 2024.
Released in 2016, Moana took home $687 million worldwide. However, the movie’s popularity has skyrocketed since then due to its inclusion on Disney+.
Moana 2 marks the returns of Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson as Moana and Maui. Per Disney’s synopsis, “Moana 2 reunites Moana and Maui three years later for an expansive new voyage alongside a crew of unlikely seafarers. After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.”
Moana 2 is directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller. Jared Bush and Miller penned the script. Christina Chen and Yvett Merino are producers.
Moana 2 opens in theaters on November 27, 2024.
(Source: Deadline)